A dance and music festival as part of Sivarathri celebrations at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur showcased vignettes of classical dances.
Asha Sarath’s two-hour Bharatanatyam recital included a Harinarayana Kauthuvam, which began with a mallari in Gambhiranatta. She slipped into ragamalika while portraying the dasavatharas. Darsanam taramattaro , a padam in Simhedramadhyamam, narrated the unflinching devotion of Kannappa and Markandeya to Siva. Asha’s daughter Uthara Sharat’s Navaraga varnam began with Todi. Asha’s deft abhinaya was the highlight of her performance of Vyasaraya’s Krishna nee begane baaro. She concluded with Harivarasanam from the film Thathwamasi . While she interpreted the verses rendered by K.J. Yesudas, an alap by Ramesh Narayanan between the charanas was utilised for describing Ayyappacharitam performed to recorded music. The choreography was by Asha’s mother Kalamandalam Sumathy. Sumathy herself did the Nattuvankam for the other numbers.
Asha Sarath
Impressive portrayal
A short cholkettu after, Gopika Varma staged Namami Sankaram , a vivid portrayal of key anecdotes in the life of Adisankara. A spell-bound audience watched the story of Sankara’s parents offering special prayers at Sree Vadakkunnathan temple to be blessed with a child.
Gopika Varma
The pallavi part concluded with the saint’s miraculous escape from the crocodile, which convinced his mother about his commitment to be a sanyasin.
Evocative choreography
The piece brought to light her dexterity in choreography and abhinaya. Rendition of tanam highlighted the heat of Sankara’s arguments with the pundits. Incidentally, this was the first time she was performing the piece in Kerala.
Gopika prefixed the story of sage Bhringi who worshipped only Siva and not Parvathy, to Ardhanareeswaram. The masculine and feminine features of the dual but composite entities were well portrayed. ‘ Bhaja Govindam’ was the concluding number.
Sithara Balakrishnan’s Mohiniyattam was an exposition of the Sopanam style. Right from the Thyani on Ganapathy to the concluding number Niram, one could experience the aesthetic appeal of the ragas and talas of Kerala. Praiseworthy was ‘Mukhachalam’, a visual treat of pure nritta composed in Chempada, Karika, Ayyadi, Chemba and Marma talas. Sithara exhibited amazing skill in the transition of talas, each of which was composed in different ragas as well.
Sithara Balakrishnan
Kottichetam , excerpted from Chilapathikaram , was a high point of her abhinaya. She concluded with ‘Niram’ that anchored on the drawing of the Bhadrakali ‘kalam’. Roudra enacted by Sithara was l within the constraints of Mohiniyattam. As for nritta, ‘Ulachil’ and ‘Chuzhippu’, peculiar to the lyrical dance, were pronounced and enhanced the aesthetics of Mohiniyattam.
Effervescence of Kuchipudi manifested in the long repertoire performed by Prateeksha Kashi. Composed in Meeya malhar and talamalika, Deham Devalaya Proktam projected the spiritual connotations of classical dance. Kouluvai Unnade , a dharuvu taken from Shiva Pallaki Seva Prabandham of Shahji Maharaj, witnessed myriad postures of Siva that were exceptionally stable. Prateeksha displayed commendable mastery over the art form in Janutha Sabdam in praise of King Tulaja II. Intricate jathis were performed to perfection in the Tarangam, Pahi Pahi Jaganmohana Krishna . Her abhinaya was captivating in the Ashtapadi Yahi Madhava. A short number Shankari Shakara could have been avoided as the last number on Kanyakumari was more descriptive. Her choreography, replete in nritta, nrithya and natya elements, essayed the killing of Banasura by Kanyakumari.
Odissi recital by Uthara Antharjanam and her three disciples was replete with nritta elements. zSiva tandava stothram set to Kamaj and teen Taal, the opening number, was an eloquent demonstration of the intrinsic traits of the dance form.
Uthara Antharjanam
Pallavi in Saveri was followed with graceful and poised moves. Among other solos, the sixth Ashtapadi had alluring abhinaya. The traditional dance of Batuka in praise of Siva that was performed by her disciples showcased rare chaalis (gaits) .
Height of melody
Sanjay Subramaniam carried all the compositions to melodic heights beginning with the Sree raga varnam, Samy Ninne Kori . The Goula composition Sama Geetha priyan was followed by an expressive Ganamoorthe in Ganamoorthi of Tyagaraja. Both the niraval at ‘Ganamoorthe’ and the chain of swaras were inspiring. Sanjay’s virtuosity in communicating the raga with a few notes in the alapana was experienced in Begada ( Tyagarajaaya namasthe ), Kharaharapriya ( Pakkala ) and Mohanam ( Kapali ), the main one in the concert.
However, Sanjay could have sandwiched a short number in between Kharaharapriya and Mohanam both of which received exhaustive treatment. Varadarajan’s dexterity in exploring each phrase of the vocalist was praiseworthy. The percussion duo of Neyveli Venkitesh (mridangam) and Tripunithura Radhakrishnan exhibited admirable restraint for both the accompaniment and tani.
Other performances included Kathak by Deepa Kartha and Manipuri led by Angabala Irengbam.
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